92 PSYCHOLOGY
(a) The word motivationis related to words such as motor, motion,andemotion.All of
these words imply some form of activity, some kind of.(b) From the point of view of psychology as a science, a motive is an.
Answers: (a) movement; (b) intervening variable.Biological Drives: The Need for Food and Water
We would not do anything at all if we were not alive. That is why in some sense it
can be argued that the root cause of all behavior can be traced to a group of biolog-
ical drives. Biological drivesare inborn drives, and their principal feature is that
they impel us to attend to our tissue needs, to maintain ourselves as organisms. The
basic theme associated with biological drives is survival.We would die fairly quickly
if we did not follow the dictates of our biological drives on a fairly regular basis.
The biological drives are familiar. The following are frequently specified:
hunger, thirst, sleep, temperature, oxygen hunger, pain, and sex. Note that if the
word hungerappears without an adjective in front of it, then the word refers to the
hunger for food. Also note how any of the biological drives can act as a motive.
For example, if your temperature level is such that you feel cold, you might be
motivated to put a coat on.
Most of the drives direct us towarda stimulus. We seek food if we are hungry.
We seek water if we are thirsty. Pain is unlike the other drives in this particular
regard. Pain directs us awayfrom a stimulus. It motivates us to escape from the
source of the pain.
Sex also has a unique status among the biological drives. The general theme
of the biological drives, as already noted, is survival. Usually we think of this as
the survival of the individual. However, in the case of sex, survival is generalized
beyond the individual. The long-run purpose of sex is to assure the survival of
the species.(a) Biological drives are drives.
(b) The basic theme associated with biological drives is.(c) Pain, unlike other drives, directs us from a stimulus.
Answers: (a) inborn; (b) survival; (c) away.An important physiological process associated with the biological drives is
homeostasis. Homeostasisis a physiological process characterized by a tendency
for biological drives to maintain themselves at optimal levels of arousal. The term
homeostasiswas introduced in the 1920s by the physiologist Walter B. Cannon, and
it can be roughly translated as “an unchanging sameness.”